I thought he was a bit of a clown but we made an instant connection and we had a couple of drinks…


Donald was a little excessive, he clearly had problems and Ian had to help out….

We met a couple of other dummies with the same name…

… And groovy hair….


But my Donald was really a little ineffective and wasn’t carrying his weight…

….he seemed a little anxious looking for someone he could win over and I needed a double vodka and tonic….

As the night drew to its inevitable end, I knew that the future for Donald was perfect…

… He bid farewell to the Old Year and said “hail” to the new…


It was the best thing for both of us when he joined up with a dummy called Jonathon…

… and then I knew it was right, and that hopefully I, and the rest of the human race would come up trumps.

It’s a sad tale, but true.

Wishing everyone, and all your loved ones, a very peaceful, safe and happy Año Nuevo.

Monigotes are a doll-like figures made of old clothes stuffed with paper and fire crackers. Some are papier-mâché creations representing popular figures.  Usually a monigote is created to represent something negative from the ending year. The monigote accompanies its creator for hours to days before it is burned in a street fire at midnight.  This symbolically eliminates the problems of the old year and ensures good luck during the new one.

In Ecuador, especially in Cuenca, Monigotes are easy to obtain.  Many street corners have vendors that sell the bodies of the effigies.

Although the burnings are practiced all over Ecuador, the city of Cuenca lays claim to being the tradition’s epicenter. On New Year’s Eve, neighborhood block parties happen across the city, where the highlight of the evening is the burning of the Monigotes in the streets.